This collection contains correspondence and business papers of Thomas Rylan Darnall, primarily concerning his mining partnership with E.W. Morse and the Jesus Maria mine near San Antonio, Baja California, in the mid-1800s.

Thomas Rylan Darnall was born in Clark County, Kentucky in 1828. In 1850 Darnall Came to California to hunt for gold. Failing as a gold seeker he tried unsuccessfully to run a small farm near Sacramento. He moved to San Diego in 1853 and opened a store. He was appointed a deputy sheriff in 1855 and twice ran unsuccessfully for sheriff. Darnall served on the County Board of Supervisors from 1855-1857. In 1857, he entered a business partnership with E. W. Morse. The two purchased a copper mine in Baja California. After a troublesome incident with Mexican officials, Darnall sold his interest in the mine for $400. He returned east to his family in 1859 and settled finally in Platte, Missouri. Darnall died in Platte in 1906.

0.25 Linear feet (1 box)

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This collection is open for research.